I rolled over on my belly and reached for a feather sticking out of my pillow. I lived in an age where foam pillows, neck pillows, slumber pillows, knee pillows and cuddle pillows hadn't been born yet. I was brought up on a feather bed with duck downy pillows. Its ok to snicker at this point but just remember, one day you could be relating your life adventures with the same thoughts in mind and someone will snicker at you!
I grabbed a cold biscuit and bacon and ran out the front door. It was a warm, sunny day and a new adventure was waiting just for me! I couldn't go to Grandmothers because she was coming to town. I couldn't go play with Lonita because she'd gone home with her aunt Esther. Mark and Stevie were camping so I just sat down on the porch step and shared my breakfast with our cat.
I didn't want to go back in the house. I didn't want to dust furniture so I mosied across the yard toward the Hilltop Courts and cafe. They sat south of us on the main drag of town. They were owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hildreth, Jennifer's grandparents. Jennifer was my best friend. I wondered if she was in trouble with her mom again. She mostly got in trouble for biting her nails but she could also be very stubborn.
I walked around the corner of a cabin where they did the laundry and saw Jennifer's mom washing sheets. I flattened myself into the side of a cabin, not wanting to be seen. She scared me sometimes!
I heard a screen door slam and a small dog bark. It was that hateful little dog of Jennifer's grandpa. Her name was Sophia and she was always chasing me home. I stuck out my tongue towards her just as Jennifer came out of the first cabin with her grandma. Mrs. Hildreth greeted me as I walked up to them than told us she'd pay us each a quarter if we'd go to all the cabins (eight more), wipe out the ash trays and empty the trash. We agreed and took off to the next cabin. I went into the bathroom, got the trash and walked out into the main room. Jennifer was wiping out ash trays. She opened one of the night stand drawers and pulled out a brick of chocolate. "Oh, wow!" I said softly. "what are you going to do with it?" " See if anyone's coming." " The coast is clear," I whispered, turning around to face her. She was holding out a piece of the chocolate for me. She had divided it evenly. "If we hurry and eat it, we can put the paper in the trash and no one will know it was even here!" she said with a devlish grin. We gave each other a pinkie swear not to ever tell, then crammed the chocolate into our mouths. It was smooth going down. It tasted like no other chocolate I'd ever had but I still liked it. We swallowed it quickly then washed our face and hands, rinsed out our mouths and hid the wrapper in the trash. We were pretty proud of ourselves. We thought we were so smart. NOT!
By now it was almost lunch time so Jennifer's mom hollered at us and told us we'd be eating lunch at the cafe. I ran home to ask Mom then flew back before her mom changed her mind. Eating at the Hilltop was one of my favorite things to do. They had the best hamburgers in the world and their french fries were sometimes as long as the plate they rested on. Oh, my mouth watered for those french fries! We sat in the last booth and waited. Finally her mom came over with two plates.....filled with steaming turnips and a dish of applesauce. We didn't screw up our faces until her back was turned. I hated turnips. They were right up there on my list with spinach and hominy. Suddenly I didn't feel so good. My stomach churned. I looked at Jennifer and I could see little beads of sweat above her upper lip. "I don't feel so good," she said. "Me neither," was my reply. We stared at our plates as her mom walked by. "You two eat every bit of that or you'll do without dinner Jennifer Ann, and I'll tell Polly (my mom) how wasteful you are Karen Sue." Somehow, listening to my mother tell me for the zillioneth time about the starving children in China just didn't sound appealing to me. We each picked up our spoons and dug in. It seemed like time stood still while we ate those turnips. Each biteful landed with a thud in my stomach. Her mom was finally satisfied and out the door we scooted. We took off running toward my house but stopped just in back of a cabin. Jennifer stuck her finger down her throat and made herself throw up which made me gag and upchuck my lunch too.
"Ow-w-w-w," I cried. "My belly hurts!" "Ow-w-w-w-w," Jennifer cried. "My belly hurts too!" Suddenly I was on my feet, running as fast as my legs could carry me, to our outhouse. My aunt Nita (we called her Pete) was just coming out as I jerked open the door. "Well!" she remarked with a sneer, but I was already past her, had my drawers down and was bawling as riverlets of sweat poured down my red face. I must have looked a sight because she went back into the house and got mama, who came out to check on me. "What's the matter with you? Do you feel sick?" She felt my forehead. " Oh mama, I think I'm dying," I cried between cramps."Oh-h-h-h mama, help me-e-e-e!"
"Oh for goodness sake," she said, "your lunch couldn't have made you this sick. Its barely had time to get to your stomach!" I screwed up my face. "Its the turnips, its the turnips," I wailed. " It can't be the turnips. What else have you eaten this morning?" My mind went blank then flashed back to the bar of chocolate. "I don't remember," I cried. I'd never tell! I'd pinkie swore!
But pinkie swear or not, Jennifer caved. She spilled the beans to her grandma who in turn sent Mr. Hildreth on a chocolate bar wrapper scavenger hunt. When he came back with an empty x-lax wrapper our sneaky secret was let out of the bag. I think it was decided not to tell Jennifer's mother. Mrs Hildreth said we'd both suffered enough. And suffer.....we did!
